Action for stringed musical instruments.



No. 857,380. PATENTED JUNE 18, 1907.

L.P.BOYD. ACTION FOR STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 4, 1906. RENEWED MAY 21,1907.

WITNESSES: wlgENTOR.

UNITED sTA'rEs PATENT OFFICE.

LEANDER F. BOYD, OF TOLEDO, OI-IIO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 18, 1907.

Application filed April 4, 1906. Renewed May 21, 1907. Serial No. 374,847.

others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference be-. ing had to the accompanying drawing, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a piano-action and particularly to improvements upon the construction shown and described in Letters Patent No. 719,641, granted jointly to David P. Boyd and myself February 3, 1903.

The object of my invention is to improve upon certain objectionable features incident to the construction of the instrument shown in said. Letters Patent No. 719,641, principal among them being the pounding or knocking occasioned by the contact of the back-check on the jack with the hammer as the former catches the latter on its rebound from the string.

A further object of my invention is the provision of simple and efficient means whereby the throw or dip of both the key and the jack may be regulated to a nicety and uni'iecessarypressure thereby relieved from the jack and back-check.

To these ends my invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of the parts, as is hereinafter more fully described and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional elevation of the action comprising the invention, with the parts shown in normal position ready for use. Fig. 2 is a similar view, with the key shown depressed and the hammer caught on its rebound and held from contact with the string by the back-check on the jack, and Fig. 3 is a plan of a portion of the slotted key-plate.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the action-rail of the instrument, which is provided on its front with a longitudinal horizontally-extending groove 2. At the rear of this rail is secured the member 3 forming at its upper end the flange 3* to which the keys 4 are pivoted, as at 5, and at its lower end the flange 3 to which the bar '6 is pivoted, as at 7. One endof this bar forms a hammer S and the other end a damper 9, which is faced with felt or other suitable ma terial, as shown at 10. In the top of the bar 6, just forward of the pivot 7, is fixed one end of a contraction-spring or other suitable elastic means 11 the opposite end. of which is fixed, as at 12, to a rail 13, which is disposed to the rear of and runs parallel with the action-rail 1. The pull of this spring holds the hammer 8 normally elevated and the damper 9 10 normally depressed against the string 14, as shown in Fig. 1.

Pivoted, as at 15, to a key-plate 16, secured to the forward side of the action-rail 1, is a jacket 17. This jacket consists of a flat bar having at its upper pivoted end a shoulder 18, which is faced with felt, as at 19, and has its nose projecting freely within the groove 2 of the action-rail, as shown. The lower outer surface of the jack 17 is beveled, as at 20, and secured to this surface is a spring-finger 21, which has its upper end securely attached thereto by a screw or other suitable means 22 and its lower end made adjustable relative to the jack-end by means of an adjusting-screw The free end of the finger is bent inwardly under the end of the jack 17 and downwardly in position to form a back-check or bumper for the hammer 8 and catch it on its rebound from the string 14 when depressed, as shown in Fig. 2, the end of the finger 2]. being faced with felt 24 to soften its contact with the hammer-end. It will be apparent with this construction of back-check for catching the hammer on its rebound after it has delivered its blow upon the string that the knocking or pounding incident to the old construction is entirely eliminated as the resiliency of the finger allows it to have a yielding contact with the hammer-end, which contact is sufliciently firm to catch and hold the hammer on its rebound. The distance above the string at which the hammer 8 is caught and held by the back-stop 21 is gaged by a turning of the adusting-screw 23 in the proper direction.

25 is a screw-eye, which is secured. to the under side of the key 4 and has its loop proj ecting downwardly and resting upon the shoulder of the jack 17, as shown. The keys of the instrument may be leveled by a turning of these screws into or out of the keys, as may be required. In the construction shown a lateral movement of the keys is prevented by extending the key-plate 16 upwardly IIO from the action-rail 1 and forming its upper edge with slots or notches in which the keys operate.

The throw or dip of the jack is regulated to a nicety by the provision of a stop-screw 26 in the under side of the key at. This screw is positioned above the forward portion of the action-rail 1 and is so adjusted relative to the key that its head is adapted to have contact with the actionrail when the key has been depressed sufficiently to cause the springfinger or back-check 21 on the jack to have the requisite pressure against the end of the hammer to maintain it out of contact with the string, thus causing the tension or pressure on the jack to be always the same even though a greater pressure be exerted on the key by the operator. The thrust of the screw-head 26 against the action-rail is softened by mounting a piece of felt or the like 27 on the action-rail. This step tends materially to lengthen the life of a jack and its springdinger.

The operation of my improved device is as follows:-The action-rail is suitably supported at its ends upon the stringed instrument in such a manner that the several keys, hammers and dampers lie directly above their appropriate strings. If new a key be struck the screw-eye 25 pressing down upon the shoulder 18 of the jack 17 will throw the jack into the position shown in Fig. 2 and the stop-screw 26 in contact with the actionrail, thus limiting the depression of the key and consequent movement of the jack. The end of the hammer resting against and sliding upon the inclined lower or rear'edge of the jack is caused by the movement of the key and jack to deliver a downward blow to the string. On the rebound of the hammer it is caught by the padded end of the spring-linger 21 or back-check, which is properly ad.

justed for that purpose, and held against touching the string or interfering with its vibration until a new blow is delivered upon the key. hen the finger is released from the key the pull of the spring 11 actuatcs the hammer, the jack and the key to return to normal position and at the same time forces the damper 9 10 down upon the string, stopping its vibration.

llaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is,-

l. -In a piano-action, a hammer, a key disposed above the hammer and in substantial parallelism therewith, a jack carried intermediate the hammer and key and movable by the latter to effect a depression of the former, and a resilient linger carried by the lower end of the jack serving as a back-check for coacting with the striker end of the hammer when the key is depressed to hold the hammer away from its string, substantially as described.

2. In a piano-action, a key and a hammer spaced apart and disposed in the same general direction, a jack connecting the key and. hammer and movable by the former to effect a depression of the latter, and a springdinger adjustably carried at the outer side of the jack to serve as a back-check and having its free terminal bent inwardly around the end of the ack contiguous to the striker end of the hammer and faced with a soft material, substantially as described.

3. In a piano-action, an actioi'i-rail, a key and a hammer pivotally carried on opposite sides of said rail, a ack intermediate the key and hammer and movable by the former to effect a depression of the latter, a resilient finger carried by the ack serving as a backcheck for the hammer and an adjustable stop carried by the key for coacting with the aetion-rail whereby to regulate the pressure of the resilient linger on the hammer.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEANDER l1. BOYD.

Witnesses C, W. OwnN, HAZEL B. Hm'r'r. 

